Council recommends moving voting precinct

Published 2:15 pm, Thursday, June 30, 2011

(Click Photo to Zoom) The only council district change recommended for 2011 is a section (seen in yellow) previously in District 1 which would move to District 3.

(Click Photo to Zoom) The only council district change recommended for 2011 is a section (seen in yellow) previously in District 1 which would move to District 3.

Council recommends moving voting precinct

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Residents around Midland College could have a new city council district in the future.

The City Council's committee on redistricting agreed Thursday to recommend a map that moves voting precinct 206, which encompasses Midland Airpark, Midland College and the surrounding area, to District 3. Currently, that precinct is in District 1.

Jeff Sparks, councilman for District 1, said he supported the plan and another option that was considered. With Midland continuing to expand north, he said shifting his district to include north Midland is what had to happen and likely will have to happen again the next redistricting process.

"Eventually Loop 250 will have to be a dividing line as long as Midland continues to grow north and grow west," he said.

John James, councilman for District 3, said having served on the Midland College Board of Trustees in the past, he feels as if he would be sensitive to their needs if those constituents were shifted to his district.

Before any final decisions are made, the council will hold a public hearing on the map on July 26. City Attorney Keith Stretcher said they will post notices for the hearing in Spanish and English and make maps available for review before the public hearing.

Redistricting takes place every 10 years following the release of census data. The Midland City Council had to redraw some of its districts because population growth occurred unevenly within the city limits.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Midland had a population of 111,153 following the 2010 count. Knowing that, each city council district should ideally have 27,788 constituents, said Robert Heath, attorney with Bickerstaff, Heath, Delgado, Acosta LLP, which is advising the city in its redistricting process.

Under the present map, District 1 contains 30,599 individuals, or about 10.12 percent more than the ideal number. District 3, in turn, consists of 25,062 residents, or about 9.81 percent fewer residents than the target number.

District 2, which is represented by Vicky Hailey, has a population that deviates by just 0.47 percent from the target number. District 4, which Michael Trost represents, has a deviation of 0.77 percent from the ideal population, according to data provided by Bickerstaff, Heath, Delgado, Acosta LLP.

Typically, Heath said they recommend clients aim for total deviations of less than 10 percent, which means some changes had to be made to districts 1 and 3. The Department of Justice must approve any redistricting map that is passed.

If voting precinct 206 was moved, District 1 would have 27,996 people and be within 0.75 percent of the ideal population, Heath said. Under that same scenario, District 3 would grow to 27,665 residents and be within 0.44 percent of the desired population.

The group also considered a plan that would shift voting precinct 404 from District 1 to District 3, although the deviations were higher on that plan, so council members agreed to recommend the first alternative.

A plan also was considered that would have split voting precincts and affected District 4.

"Certainly I believe plan A or plan B are the easiest choices, the simplest choices," Heath said, referring to the options that would move whole precincts. "It's not my decision; it's yours."

James said he didn't want to go with a plan just because it was easy. He added the plan they're recommending is one he supports.

"Easy is not a consideration for me," he said. "It's not anywhere in my thought process. What matters to me is it's the right thing."